US ambassador to Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: Syrian attack was 'a direct affront to human decency'

A
civil defence member runs at a market hit by air strikes in
Aleppo's rebel-held al-Fardous district, Syria October 12,
2016.REUTERS/Abdalrhman
Ismail

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Syrian authorities — "abetted by
Russia's continuing efforts to bury the truth" — still possess
and use chemical weapons, an American diplomat told the
international chemical weapons watchdog on Thursday.

The strong comments by Kenneth D. Ward, the American ambassador
to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, came
amid ongoing diplomatic skirmishes over last week's deadly attack
in Syria.

Ward used a hastily convened meeting of the organization's
executive council to launch a withering verbal attack on Syrian
President Bashar Assad and his allies in Moscow.

The meeting was called to discuss the April 4 attack on the
Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun that killed nearly 90 people. The
United States and other Western governments blame Assad's regime.
Washington in retaliation launched missile strikes on a Syrian
air base they say was the starting point for the chemical weapons
attack, a move that ratcheted up tensions between the United
States and Syria's ally Russia.

Russia and Syria claim the Khan Shaykhun victims were killed by
toxic agents released from a rebel chemical arsenal hit by Syrian
warplanes.

But Ward insisted it was a deliberate attack that amounted to "a
direct affront to the Chemical Weapons Convention and, indeed, a
direct affront to human decency, carried out by a State Party" to
the OPCW, according to the text of his speech that was posted on
the organization's website.

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under severe international pressure
following a deadly chemical attack on a Damascus suburb. Assad's
government told the organization it had a 1,300-ton stockpile of
chemical weapons and chemicals used to make them. That stockpile
was destroyed in an operation overseen by the Nobel Peace Prize
winning-group OPCW, but ever since there have been questions
about whether Assad had declared all his weapons.

"On April 4, the lifeless bodies of innocent victims, grotesquely
contorted and twisted by the nerve agent sarin, tell the real
story," Ward said. "Syria provided a grossly incomplete
declaration to the OPCW of its chemical weapons program. Iit
continues to possess and use chemical weapons."

He added that "this outrage is abetted by Russia's continuing
efforts to bury the truth and protect the Syrian regime" form
consequences of using chemical weapons.

Britain's Ambassador, Sir Geoffrey Adams, told the meeting that
U.K. scientists have analyzed samples from Khan Shaykhun and they
"tested positive for the nerve agent sarin, or a sarin-like
substance."

Earlier this week, Turkish doctors also said that test results
conducted on victims confirmed that sarin gas was used.

The OPCW's Fact Finding Mission for Syria is conducting an
investigation and is expected to report its findings in three
weeks. The organization has not revealed any details, citing the
need to preserve the integrity of the probe and the safety of
OPCW staff.

In
this image from video provided by the U.S. Navy, the
guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk
land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea, Friday, April 7,
2017.Mass Communication Specialist
3rd Class Ford Williams/U.S. Navy via AP

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday
that OPCW inspectors should visit both the Syrian air base, which
the U.S. said served as a platform for the attack, and Khan
Sheikhoun to get a full and objective picture.

He said Russia vetoed a draft U.N. resolution Wednesday because
it failed to mention the need to inspect the area of the attack.

"We are deeply worried by our partners in the U.N. Security
Council trying to evade an honest investigation into that
episode," he said.

Lavrov said he emphasized the need for a wide-ranging OPCW probe
during Wednesday's talks in Moscow with U.S. Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson, suggesting that Western nations, Russia and some
regional powers could dispatch additional experts to join the
investigation.

US ambassador to Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: Syrian attack was 'a direct affront to human decency'

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Syrian authorities — "abetted by Russia's continuing efforts to bury the truth" — still possess and use chemical weapons, an American diplomat told the international chemical weapons watchdog on Thursday.